[android] How to change text color of simple list item

I have an ListActivity and i am displaying one list with:

setListAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(getApplicationContext(),
                android.R.layout.simple_list_item_single_choice, mStringList));

By default text color of list items is white, I want to change text color of text views in the list to black.

How should i do it?

This question is related to android listview

The answer is


Try this code in stead of android.r.layout.simple_list_item_single_choice create your own layout:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CheckedTextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:checkMark="?android:attr/listChoiceIndicatorSingle"
    android:gravity="center_vertical"
    android:padding="5dip"
    android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
    android:textColor="@android:color/black"
    android:textStyle="bold">
</CheckedTextView>

try this code...

<RelativeLayout 
         xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" 
         android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
         android:layout_height="fill_parent" 
         android:background="#ffff00"> 

    <ListView 
            android:id="@+id/android:list" 
            android:layout_marginTop="2px" 
            android:layout_marginLeft="2px" 
            android:layout_marginRight="2px"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent" 
            android:layout_height="wrap_content" 
            android:layout_weight="1" 
            android:background="@drawable/shape_1" 
            android:listSelector="@drawable/shape_3" 
            android:textColor="#ffff00" 
            android:layout_marginBottom="44px" /> 
</RelativeLayout>

you can use setTextColor(int) method or add style to change text color.

<style name="ReviewScreenKbbViewMoreStyle">
<item name="android:textColor">#2F2E86</item>
<item name="android:textStyle">bold</item>
<item name="android:textSize">10dip</item>


The simplest way to do this without needing to create anything extra would be to just modify the simple list TextView:

ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(this,
                android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, android.R.id.text1, strings) {
            @Override
            public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
                TextView textView = (TextView) super.getView(position, convertView, parent);
                textView.setTextColor({YourColorHere});
                return textView;
            }
        };

You just have override the getView method of ArrayAdapter

ArrayAdapter<String> adapter = new ArrayAdapter<String>(getApplicationContext(), 
        android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, mStringList) {
    @Override
    public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
        View view = super.getView(position, convertView, parent);
        TextView text = (TextView) view.findViewById(android.R.id.text1);
        text.setTextColor(Color.BLACK);
        return view;
    }
};

I realize this question is a bit old but here's a really simple solution that was missing. You don't need to create a custom ListView or even a custom layout.

Just create an anonymous subclass of ArrayAdapter and override getView(). Let super.getView() handle all the heavy lifting. Since simple_list_item_1 is just a text view you can customize it (e.g. set textColor) and then return it.

Here's an example from one of my apps. I'm displaying a list of recent locations and I want all occurrences of "Current Location" to be blue and the rest white.

ListView listView = (ListView) this.findViewById(R.id.listView);
listView.setAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(this, android.R.layout.simple_list_item_1, MobileMuni.getBookmarkStore().getRecentLocations()) {
    @Override
    public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
        TextView textView = (TextView) super.getView(position, convertView, parent);

        String currentLocation = RouteFinderBookmarksActivity.this.getResources().getString(R.string.Current_Location);
        int textColor = textView.getText().toString().equals(currentLocation) ? R.color.holo_blue : R.color.text_color_btn_holo_dark;
        textView.setTextColor(RouteFinderBookmarksActivity.this.getResources().getColor(textColor));

        return textView;
    }
});

If you are creating a class that extends an Adapter, you can use parent variable to obtain the context.

public class MyAdapter extends ArrayAdapter<String> {
private Context context;
   @Override
   public View getView(int position, View convertView, ViewGroup parent) {
       context = parent.getContext();
       context.getResources().getColor(R.color.red);
       return convertView;
   }
}

You can do the same with RecyclerView.Adapter, but instead of getview() you will use onCreateViewHolder().


I'm also faced this situation. You can handle above method. but simple if you pass simple_dropdown_item_1line as resource. It will be black color text by default.

This is my code I have achieved in kind of situation.

ArrayAdapter<String> arrAdapter = 
new ArrayAdapter<String>(context,android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line,countryList);
        listView.setAdapter(arrAdapter);

Your code below:

setListAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(getApplicationContext(),
                android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line, mStringList));

Actually android.R.layout.simple_dropdown_item_1line is used for dropdown. I urge u to see this layout content once. It just simple textview. thats all. It's property will not affect your task. I checked It works fine.


Create an xml file in res/values and copy the below code

<style name="BlackText">
<item name="android:textColor">#000000</item>
</style>

and the specify the style in activity in Manifest like below

 android:theme="@style/BlackText"

In simple word "you can't do it through simple setListAdapter" . you must used custom listview for freely changes in text color or in any other views

for Custom Listview you can go with this link


If you want to keep all the style but change few details, you can use the default style defined on the Android and change what you want

<TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:id="@android:id/text1"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceListItemSmall"
    android:gravity="center_vertical"
    android:textColor="@android:color/background_light"
    android:paddingStart="?android:attr/listPreferredItemPaddingStart"
    android:paddingEnd="?android:attr/listPreferredItemPaddingEnd"
    android:background="?android:attr/activatedBackgroundIndicator"
    android:minHeight="?android:attr/listPreferredItemHeightSmall" />

Then set the adapter using:

setListAdapter(new ArrayAdapter<String>(getApplicationContext(),
            R.layout.list_item_custom, mStringList));

Source: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/frameworks/base/+/refs/heads/master/core/res/res/layout/simple_list_item_activated_1.xml